Chappaqua Unplugged: Signs Are Dark As Elected Officials Bicker

NEW CASTLE, NY — Pedestrians and motorists passing through the Chappaqua business district are no longer being treated to information about upcoming events and community news, as a growing feud between the school board and local officials has resulted in the town's digital sign going dark — for the time being.

After the Chappaqua Central School District cut off the power to both digital signs on South Greeley Avenue, on the front property of Robert E. Bell Middle School, the Town of New Castle considered litigation against the school district.

The origins of the disagreement go back more than five years.

But how did we get here?

In 2017, the Town of New Castle and the Chappaqua Central School District entered into an Intermunicipal Agreement, where each party contributed money to purchase and put up the electronic signs across from the train station. The signs have since become something of a Chappaqua landmark.

After Dec. 31, 2022, the agreement would automatically renew unless one of the parties wished to terminate.

"After five years, either Party may terminate this Agreement, with or without reason, upon 60 days written notice to the other Party," according to the agreement. "In the event of termination, the Town will be wholly responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of its sign as well as the content of messages broadcast. The School District will be similarly wholly responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of its sign as well as the content of messages broadcast."

The school district expressed its concerns last August about the "Community Corner" messages posted by the town, specifically that birthday messages might pose security risks and that some children might feel excluded if their birthdays were not posted. The town then started using just the last name initial and kept the messages up for several days so that the exact birthdate would not be revealed.

At an October school board meeting, citing continued disagreements regarding appropriate content, the district recommended discontinuing the agreement and re-negotiating in the future. The school district then told the town that it wanted to terminate the existing agreement.

The town suggested in a letter to the school board's attorney dated Dec. 30, that both parties meet in the new year to continue the discussion.

In the Jan. 6, edition of "New Castle Community e-NEWS," Supervisor Lisa Katz noted that the town couldn't "post the community's best wishes to you on the electronic sign across from the train station as the CCSD School Board has illegally turned off the power, and is blocking the Town's access to the electronic sign. We apologize for any disappointmet that this may cause. We will continue to post community announcements here, as we join with you in loving the sense of community (and the smiles) that this brings!"

The supervisor said that the school board overstepped their authority when they made the unilateral decision to unplug the signs.

"So we were shocked when the District disconnected the power to both signs, even though the IMA clearly states that the District and Town would each independently operate their own signs if the IMA terminated," Katz wrote in the weekly newsletter.

Katz also said that while the New Castle Town Board was taking steps to rectify the situation, legal action is not a palatable solution.

"Needless to say, not one member of the Town Board wants this matter to end with litigation," Katz wrote. "Frankly, I believe that it is ridiculous and a waste of taxpayer money. And we have many more important things upon which to focus. The Town Board is open and willing to sit down with the School Board to amicably resolve this matter, but we are not willing to allow the District to effectively confiscate the Town's sign by cutting off its power."

During the Jan. 3, Town Board meeting, the board discussed the resolution to pursue litigation against CCSD about the electronic signs.

"In my personal view, I think that they are not being good municipal partners to the town of New Castle," Katz said in public comments."I would like to negotiate still with the school. I'm very disheartened that they felt that the only thing they could do would be to cut power to the sign that is now dark for everyone."

Still, calling the school board's actions "incredibly bad faith," the town supervisor said that she isn't taking the prospect of litigation off the table.

"I would hate for both sides to be spending taxpayer money, which is predominantly, not 100 percent, but a significant number of people in the school district are also in the town. So they would be doubly paying tax dollars to commence litigation, but I think if we had to go there I would. I would just hope that the school district would hear us and try to negotiate this without needing to go to court."

Not surprisingly, the school board has a much different view of the dispute.

"There are no provisions allowing personal messaging on the digital sign, nor did personal messaging occur during the first four years of the agreement," the school board wrote in a Jan. 5 letter from CCSD to the New Castle Town Board. "The Town made a unilateral change to what constitutes acceptable message content on school property in 2022, without the consent of the CCSD. Since this agreement expired on 12/31/22, and no new agreement was entered into prior to that date, the digital sign has been turned off, as there is currently no working agreement between the Town and the CCSD that governs the current use of the messaging to be displayed on the sign on the CCSD's property."

"While our attorneys were unable to resolve this matter before the holiday break, we remain committed to working with you to craft a mutually satisfactory agreement regarding the sign, as soon as possible," school officials wrote.

They also outlined potential alternative options for moving forward.

Town Attorney Edward Phillips noted that while the original agreement included guidelines for messages, birthday messages were not actually banned since the district was willing to allow the messages for limited hours on Saturdays, although the town also wanted to add Sundays and any days school was not in session. He also pointed out that the district did not have the right to cut off the power to both signs, since either party should have been able to continue operating their respective sign, while responsible for the costs.

"I'm really disappointed that we're coming to the point where we're discussing whether or not we would commence litigation," Councilmember Holly McCall said. "I really feel very uncomfortable with that prospect... To me, yes, shutting the sign off is absolutely an escalation. But I feel like if we now come to a place where we're passing a resolution to pursue litigation, I feel like we're escalating instead of de-escalating."

The New Castle Town Board again discussed the matter at the Jan. 10 work session.

"Nobody on this board indicated that they wanted to sue the school board. In fact, at the last meeting, every single board member said we believe that would be a waste of time, energy and taxpayer money," Katz said at the Tuesday night meeting. "So we are looking to amicably resolve this. We have again asked the CCSD to come back to the table. I'm happy that they have actually agreed to do that and we will keep everyone updated as to the next steps and hopefully, these school boards will decide to honor the contract and at least turn the sign back on in the meantime."

Katz said the two parties are scheduled to meet on Thursday and there may be light at the end of the tunnel, or at least on the marquee.